Council approves purchase of eight Olympic buses

Bruce Walkinshaw - Penticton Western News Published: March 30, 2010 6:00 PM

Penticton transit users are about to get some new rides. City council voted 4-3 Monday to replace Penticton’s aging bus fleet with eight new buses, manufactured by Volvo Bus Corporation subsidiary Nova Bus. Originally purchased by BC Transit and TransLink as part of a 300-bus order for use at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, BC Transit presented an enticing sales offer to the city, explaining that because Penticton’s aging bus fleet costs so much to operate and maintain, the city would only have to pay $46,300 more for the new buses than what it will have to pay this year to use the old buses. Furthering the sales-pitch, BC Transit also indicated that if Penticton waited until next year, when the old buses are scheduled to be replaced, there is no guarantee that the new Nova buses would still be available. “I don’t think there is many people around this table that drive a 1992 automobile,” said Coun. Garry Litke, before the vote.

“So, (the old buses) will have to be replaced soon. And the fear of not replacing them now would be that in a year from now all that will be left available to us will be some 10-year-old buses that have been discarded by other municipalities.” Litke pointed out that the new buses were made out of stainless steel and would not be subjected to corrosion like the current ones are. “If you take a look at the statistics, the difference between our current bus fleet and the bus fleet that is being proposed to buy, the CO2 emissions will be reduced from 0.73 grams per kilometre to 0.01,” said Litke. “That is a huge reduction in carbon emissions.”

Mayor Dan Ashton and councillors Mike Pearce and Dan Albas all voted against purchasing the new buses without also increasing fairs to make up the extra $46,300. “Should the taxpayer be subsidizing further somebody else’s ride on our transit?” asked Albas, who said he did not support even buying the new buses until the city knows what kind of transit capacity it will require in the future. Prior to the adopted motion, Pearce moved that the city purchase the eight buses but also raise fairs, presumably by about 25 per cent to recover the additional costs, however, he received no seconder.